Council renews school resource officer contract with 4% increase

The Junction City Council voted to renew the school resource officer (SRO) contract with the Junction City School District, approving a 4% increase for the coming fiscal year.

Chief Patel told the council the police department and the school district had agreed on the 4% increase and that the SRO recently made a presentation to the school board. Staff provided the council with the budget impact information and expressed that the department has a strong working relationship with the district.

A council member asked about section 4.3 of the agreement, questioning the written contract language that appears to list an end date of June 30, 2025, versus the commonly used July 1 fiscal boundary. Staff said the contract’s end date as printed is correct and that the start-date question would not affect current operations because the positions are already filled for the year.

Councilor Weisberg (transcript spelling varies) moved to approve the SRO contract renewal and to authorize the city administrator to sign the necessary documents; the motion was seconded. The council recorded roll-call votes in the affirmative across listed councilors and the chair thanked the presenters before adjourning.

The SRO renewal formalizes the district’s contribution to the officer’s compensation for the next fiscal year; the transcript does not specify dollar amounts, billing detail or which line items in the city budget will cover the increase. Staff indicated the budget information on the council desk reflected the impact but did not read an exact dollar total into the public record.